How to use Gmail to Prevent Blogger’s Regret

I’m sure we’re all familiar with the inner conflict known as buyer’s regret or buyer’s remorse. That slow panic rising from deep within your gut as the question begs an answer: “did I make a mistake in paying half my salary for that thing I just bought?” Oops.

Blogger’s regret is very similar. In a brave/foolish/ignorant moment you posted an entry that you really just shouldn’t have published…

Sometimes one wants to post something in anger or link to something corny and you just know you might regret it. What can you do to get it out of your favourite blog editor and off your mind?

One solution I find useful is to set up a Gmail label and filter combination and email my words away:

Log in to your Gmail Account and choose Edit labels

Create a new label BlogNoPub for example

While still in Settings, select the Filters tab and click on Create a new filter

Beside To: type in yourusername+blognopub@gmail.com

Go to the next step and select:

Skip the Inbox(Archive it)

Mark as read

Apply the label: your new label e.g. BlogNoPub

Create Filter

Now when you think you might regret posting something, email it to username+blognopub@gmail.com instead and let it sit there for a few days first. After a cooling off period, you can go back and revise your words or, as most often happens, forget about it.